ON THE GROCERY WAGON
Bunny Brown and his sister Sue began to dance up and down, and to clap
their fat little hands. They always did this when they were happy over
some pleasure that was coming. And surely it would be a pleasure to go
to Aunt Lu's city home.
"Oh, Mother, may we go?" cried Bunny.
"Please say we can!" begged Sue.
"Why, yes, I think we'll go," smiled Mother Brown. "I have been thinking
for some time of paying Aunt Lu a visit, and, now that she asks us to
come, I think we will go."
"And will daddy come?" Bunny wanted to know.
"Well, he can't come and stay as long as we shall stay, perhaps," said
Mrs. Brown, "but he may be with us part of the time, as he was at
grandpa's farm."
"Oh, goodie! What fun we'll have! Oh, goodie! What fun we'll have!" sang
Sue, dancing around, holding her doll by one arm.
"And we'll ride in street cars, and on the steam cars," said Bunny, "and
I'll see a policeman and a fireman and the fire engines, and we'll have
ice cream cones, and--and----"
But that was all the little boy could think of just then, and he had to
stop to catch his breath, which had nearly got away from him, he had
talked so fast.
"There won't be any horses to ride, and we can't see the ducks and
chickens," said Sue, "like we did on grandpa's farm in the country,
Bunny."
"No, but we can see lots of other things in the city. I know we'll have
plenty of fun, Sue."
"Yes, I guess we will. When are we going, Mother?"
"Oh, in about a week, I think. I'll write and tell Aunt Lu we are
coming."
"She hasn't lost her diamond ring again; has she?" asked Bunny.
"No, I guess not. She doesn't say anything about it, if she has,"
answered Mrs. Brown.
"'Cause if she had lost it we'd help her find it," the little boy went
on. "Oh, Sue! aren't you glad we're going?"
"Well, I just guess I am!" said Sue, happily, singing again.
She and Bunny talked of nothing else all that day but of the visit to
Aunt Lu, and at night, when they were going to bed, they made plans of
what they would do when they got to Aunt Lu's city house in New York.
"You'll come; won't you, Daddy?" asked Bunny, at breakfast the next
morning, just before Mr. Brown was ready to start for his office at the
fish dock.
"Well, yes, I guess I'll come down when it gets so cold here that the
boats can't go out in the bay on account of the ice," said daddy.
"Oh, are we going to stay until winter?" asked Sue.
"Yes, we shall stay over Christmas," her mother answered.
"Will there be a place to slide down hill?" Bunny wanted to know.
"I'm afraid not, in New York City," Mr. Brown said. "But you can have
other kinds of fun, Bunny and Sue."
"Oh, I can hardly wait for the time to come!" cried Sue, as she once
more danced around the room with her doll.
"Let's go out in the yard and play teeter-tauter," called Bunny. "That
will make the time pass quicker, Sue."
Bunker Blue had made for the children a seesaw from a long plank put
over a wooden sawhorse. When Bunny sat on one end of the plank, and Sue
on the other, they went first up and then down, "teeter-tauter, bread
and water," as they sang when they played this game.
Soon the brother and sister were enjoying themselves this way, talking
about what fun they would have at Aunt Lu's city home. Then, all at
once, Bunny jumped off the seesaw, and of course Sue came down with a
bump.
"Oh, Bunny Brown!" she cried, "what did you do that for? Why didn't you
tell me you were goin' to get off, an' then I could stop myself from
bumpin'."
"I'm sorry," said Bunny. "I didn't know I was going to jump till I did.
Did you get hurted?"
"No, but I might have. And you knocked my doll out of my lap, and maybe
she's hurted."
"Oh, you can't hurt a doll!" cried Bunny. "Pooh!"
"Yes you can, too!"
"No you can't!"
The children might have gone on talking in this unpleasant way for some
time, only, just then, up the side drive came Mr. Gordon's grocery
wagon, with Tommie Tobin, the grocery boy, on the seat driving the
horse.
"Oh, he's got things in for us!" cried Sue. "Let's go an' see what they
is, Bunny. Maybe it's cookies, and we can have one. I'm hungry, and it
isn't near dinner time yet. It's only cookie time."
The two children went over to the grocery wagon. Tommie Tobin jumped off
the seat, and hurried into the Brown kitchen with a basket of things. He
did not see Bunny and Sue, as they were on the other side of the wagon.
Just then Bunny had an idea. He often got ideas in his queer little
head.
"Oh, Sue!" he cried. "I know what let's do!"
"What?" she asked.
"Let's get in the grocery wagon, and have a ride."
"Oh, Bunny! All right. Let's!"
Softly the children drew nearer the wagon. Then Sue thought of
something.
"But, Bunny," she said, "Tommie won't like it. Maybe he won't let us
ride."
"Oh, he'll like it all right," said Bunny. "He gave Charlie Star a ride
the other day. Anyhow he won't know it."
"Who won't know it; Charlie?"
"No, Tommie. We'll get in the wagon, and hide down between the boxes and
baskets, while he's in our house. Then he won't see us. Come on, Sue."
"But it's so high up I can't get in, Bunny."
"Oh, I'll help you. Here, we can stand on this box, and then we can easy
get up."
Bunny found a box beside the drive-way. He put it up near the back of
the grocery wagon, and stood up on it. Then he helped Sue up on the
box.
"Now you can get in," said the little boy. "I'll boost you, just like
Bunker Blue boosts me when I climb trees. Up you go, Sue!"
Bunny raised Sue up from the box. She put one leg over the tail-board of
the wagon, and down inside she tumbled in the midst of the grocery
packages, the boxes and baskets.
"Here I come!" cried Bunny, and in he came tumbling. He fell between Sue
and a bag of potatoes. Just then the children heard a joyous whistle.
"Now keep still--keep very still," whispered Bunny to Sue. "Here comes
Tommie, and if he doesn't see us he'll drive off and give us a nice
ride. Keep still, Sue."
Sue kept very still. So did Bunny. Tommie came out whistling. He tossed
the empty basket into the back of the wagon, gave one jump up on to the
seat, and cried:
"Giddap!"
Off trotted the horse with the wagon, taking Sue and Bunny for a ride,
along with the groceries.